Friedrich Egon (Fritz) Scherfke, (; 7 September 1909 – 15 September 1983) was a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a forward. An ethnic

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, he represented the Poland national team. He is still one of the all time leading goalscorers of all time in the top Polish division with 131 goals.

Biography

Scherfke's native city in the Provinz Posen saw a

Polish uprising This is a chronological list of wars in which Poland or its predecessor states of took an active part, extending from the reign of Mieszko I (960–992) to the present. This list does not include peacekeeping operations (such as UNPROFOR, UNTAE ...

in late 1918, and by the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

became officially part of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

in 1920 when he was 10. He spent most of his career in

Warta Poznań Warta Poznań () is a multi-sports club based in Poznań, Poland. The name means ''the Guard'' in Polish and also the name of the river Warta on which Poznań is located. As of the 2025–26 II liga, 2025–26 season, they compete in the II liga, ...

, which was one of the best teams in Poland in the 1920s and 1930s, winning the league in 1929 and finishing second in 1928 and 1938. Scherfke also played 12 games for the Polish national team, scoring two goals. His debut came on 2 October 1932 in a 2–1 win against

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. He participated in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, where Poland finished fourth, playing in a 3–0 win over

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and a 5–4 victory over

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, suffering an injury in the latter match which ruled him out of the remainder of the tournament. On 5 June 1938, he scored Poland's first-evr goal in the history of their

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

participation, converting a penalty kick in the 23rd minute of a 5–6 loss to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

at the

1938 FIFA World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the 3rd edition of the FIFA World Cup, World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in France from 4 to 19 June 1938. Italy national ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, as a '' Volksdeutscher'' (ethnic German), he was called up to the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

. In February 1940, he became director of the football section in the administration of the new region

Reichsgau Wartheland The Reichsgau Wartheland (initially Reichsgau Posen, also Warthegau) was a Nazi Germany, Nazi German ''Reichsgau'' formed from parts of Second Polish Republic, Polish territory Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, annexed in 1939 during World War ...

. After two months, he was replaced by an officer of the Wehrmacht. Also in February 1940 he became president and captain of the new German club 1. FC Posen. In this position, he managed to protect some former teammates from persecution by the Nazis. Among those Poles he helped were goalkeeper of Warta, Marian Fontowicz (captured by

during the

Polish September Campaign The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet ...

), wife of Zbigniew Szulc, another Warta's goalie (German authorities planned to send her to Germany as

OST-Arbeiter ' (, "Eastern worker") was a Nazi German designation for foreign slave workers gathered from occupied Central and Eastern Europe to perform forced labor in Germany during World War II. The Germans started deporting civilians at the beginning ...

), Warta's forward Bolesław Gendera (arrested for playing football), and Michał Flieger, with whom he won the national title in 1929. When the 1. FC Posen came under the control of the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

and changed its name to Luftwaffen Sportverein Posen in October 1940, Scherfke left the club and ended his career as football player at the age of 31. In 1942, he informed his Polish friends that he could not help them any more, he felt himself observed by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

. In 1943, he was commanded to the Eastern Front, and later to

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. Wounded in January 1945 in Yugoslavia, at the end of the war he was captured as POW by British soldiers. He was released on 25 July 1945 and found a new home in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

, where he opened a furniture store. In early 1980s, he sold the store and moved to

Eschborn Eschborn () is a town in the Main-Taunus district, Hesse, Germany. It is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area and has a population of 21,488 (2018). Eschborn is home to numerous corporations due to it ...

near Frankfurt am Main. Scherfke died in the hospital of

Bad Soden Bad Soden am Taunus (, ), commonly known as Bad Soden, is a town and spa in the Main-Taunus-Kreis, Hessen, Germany. It had a population of 22,563 , up from 21,412 in 2005. Information Bad Soden is a residential town for commuters working in F ...

in the region of

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. Thomas Urban: Schwarzer Adler, weißer Adler. Deutsche und polnische Fußballer im Räderwerk der Politik. Göttingen 2011, p.73.

Honours

Warta Poznań *

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scherfke, Fryderyk 1909 births 1983 deaths Footballers from Poznań People from the Province of Posen Polish people of German descent Men's association football forwards Polish men's footballers Poland men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Poland Footballers at the 1936 Summer Olympics 1938 FIFA World Cup players Warta Poznań players Ekstraklasa players German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom German Army personnel of World War II 20th-century Polish sportsmen